Best of Neighborhood News 8/4: Minnesota Supreme Court primaries most important election nobody’s heard of

Incumbent state Supreme Court justice faces two challengers: MinnPost’s Greta Kaul writes an in-depth report about the upcoming Aug. 9 primary for Justice Natalie Hudson’s seat on the Minnesota Supreme Court. While an incumbent justice hasn’t lost a re-election bid for about 70 years, Hudson’s supporters are worried.

Of the three candidates running for the slot, Hudson is the only one with experience as an elected judge — and the only one actively fundraising for her campaign to retain her seat, according state campaign finance records.

But those efforts may not matter: In this primary, only the top two vote getters’ names will advance to the general ballot. With no other statewide primary on the ballot, voter turnout in general is expected to be low — and in judicial elections, the number of people voting always tends to be lower.

What this means for the Supreme Court race: The random choices of a very small number of voters — or a determined effort by a small group of activists — could have outsized influence on the result, and could even cut Hudson out of the general election.

Minneapolis City Council likely to keep $15 wage off November ballot: In a procedural vote on Wednesday, the Minneapolis City Council (acting as the Committee of the Whole) voted 10-2 to not include a $15 minimum wage vote on the city’s November ballot, reports Barb Kucera of Workday Minnesota. Despite more than 20,000 people signing a petition for the ballot measure, the City Council voted to table minimum wage discussions until the second quarter of 2017.

“I might not know a lot about government,” said fast food worker Steven Suffridge told Workday. “But I do understand one thing – we deserve the money.”

The City Council makes its final vote on the ballot measure Friday, Aug. 5. Read the full story here.

People of color are less likely to have ‘creative jobs’:Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder’s Charles Hallman writes that despite a 10 percent growth in “creative jobs,” but Blacks and other people of color are not benefiting from such growth, according to a new City of Minneapolis report.

Gülgün Kayim, director of the arts, culture and the creative economy program since 2011, says, “One of the things I was asked to do was look at the creative economy.” She hopes the 2015 report will better highlight the racial inequities in Minneapolis’ creative occupations.

“There are a lot of people who talk around assumptions in the creative community, but we needed to bring facts to the table. There is systemic racism problems that we need to address.”

“It was kind of a whimsical artistic impulse,” recalled Antonio Duke, as he reminisced on this past spring when Ashawnti Sakina Ford drove him home each night after their rehearsals for a production of “Imaginary Invalid,” a play by 17th-century French actor and playwright, Molière.

Councilmember Phillipe Cunningham hosts forum, speaks out on the 2040 Plan in Minneapolis
On July 22nd, public commenting ended for the City of Minneapolis’ comprehensive plan, a document that encompasses the city’s plan of action of housing, employment, investment and other aspects of city governance.

In case you missed it

On July 30, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced his decision to not file charges against MPD officers Ryan Kelly and Justin Schmidt. The two officers shot and killed Thurman Blevins during a police investigation on June 23 in the Camden neighborhood.

It seems like every think-piece or nonprofit email included the words “Now, more than ever” in 2017. While unprecedented challenges and tragedies rocked our national conscious in 2017, this year was the one when – more than ever – we as a community turned toward the hyper-local to affect change.

If you were to turn over a chair in a Minnesota public library, like at the Buckham Memorial Library in Faribault, you might find a tag noting the chair was manufactured by MINNCOR, a quasi public-private business operation within the state’s Department of Corrections (DOC). MINNCOR products are made by Minnesota inmates who make furniture for everything from public libraries to student dormitories.